Racketeering
Racketeering ( Engl. Racket "Trickery", "illegal business") as a criminological term , particularly in the United States illegal forms of management, as part of the organized crime are to be considered.
Originally, the term referred racket mainly on extortion ( protection racket ). From about 1850 onwards , other activities were also described, in particular through the gangs in the Five Points in Manhattan of New York City , which were organized or already largely carried out in gangs, such as B. illegal gambling and in particular the street lottery ( number games ), which was called number racket .
The term racketeering was first officially used in June 1927 by the Employers 'Association of Chicago to describe the corruption and violence within the transport workers' union " Teamsters ".
In US-American English, all common illegal activities can be described or summarized in addition to the original names. This will make prosecution and conviction easier:
- Drug trafficking : drug racketeering instead of drug trafficking or illegal drug trade
- Union corruption or coercion by the employer : labor racketeering ; d. H. the summary of offenses of coercion, extortion , bribery , corruption , (anti) strike-breaking , other violent or necessary circumstances in labor disputes and working conditions etc.
- Illegal gambling : number racket ; d. H. the operation of street lotteries etc.
- Product piracy : customs racketeering ; all crimes related to counterfeiting or counterfeiting of products and their illegal distribution
- Racketeering : protection racket instead of the simple blackmail ( extortion ) or coercion
On October 15, 1970, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (18 USC §§ 1961–1968) - RICO for short - came into being in order to get rid of corruption and organized crime. On this basis, the fight against the American Cosa Nostra and the criminal processes within the Teamsters union began. From a German point of view, the possibility to prosecute crime not only through drastic criminal law means, but also through civil law action options and extensive claims for damages for injured third parties is remarkable.
In Germany, the term racket was used by Max Horkheimer et al. Coined technical term used in sociology for gangs or cliques that form when the state collapses, with the meaning taken from English as " criminal association " or "part of a criminal organization ".
Individual evidence
- ^ David Witwer: The Most Racketeer-Ridden Union in America: The Problem of Corruption in the Teamsters Union During the 1930s. In Emmanuel Kreike and William Chester Jordan (eds.): Corrupt Histories. University of Rochester Press, 2004, ISBN 1-58046-173-5 .
literature
- Peter Reuter: Racketeering in Legitimate Industries: A Study in the Economics of Intimidation. Rand, Santa Monica, CA 1987.
- Thorsten Fuchshuber: Rackets. Critical theory of gang rule. Freiburg / Vienna 2019, ISBN 978-3-86259-145-9 .
Web links
- J. Dellaporta: What is Racketeering? WiseGeek.com (English)